The Wave Ventures team consists of a unique combination of the brightest students in the Nordics, acting as the go-to resource for Gen Z founders. After six years in the heart of the Nordic university ecosystems, the team identified a major problem. More students than ever want to build world-changing companies are inspired by the recent success stories of young entrepreneurs, but they often lack the encouragement and resources to start entrepreneurship.
Wave's second fund is looking to tackle this. Erik Kym linen, the newly appointed CEO of Wave Ventures, says we want to make the leap easier for promising aspiring founders by investing in them earlier than any European VC has done before. There are some super founders who have proved themselves and can attract the attention of VCs and angel investors very early in life. There is no systematic approach to how to help, validate and invest in people at the earliest stage. Wave Ventures will invest in 20 25 Gen Z founders and teams at the earliest possible stage. Even before forming a founding team, validating the idea and in extreme cases an actual idea can be written by investing in the so-called leap stage.
As a VC we offer encouragement and resources to build something big enough to have an impact, and we believe that the most promising young founders should receive early support, and that is where we step in as a VC.
The Wave Ventures team is deeply connected to the Nordic startup ecosystem, because they have a strong network in the Finnish university sphere, and are able to connect the founders with the best investors and advisors.
Timo Ahopelto, Founding Partner at Lifeline Ventures, said Finland has seen a lot of recent success in student-founded companies. Many promising founders can be unsure about their ideas because they can get unnoticed. Wave will be a big help for these leap stage founders. Ilkka Paananen, co-founder of Supercell, says that the entrepreneurial student community is a key factor in the development of the Finnish startup scene. Finland needs more great companies, and providing future founders with the right support early on is an integral part of the equation. Wave Ventures is in a great position to support aspiring entrepreneurs who would otherwise be left unnoticed by later-stage investors.